How My Different Musical Phases Influenced Me

If you have ever studied in college, you may be familiar with the feeling of not being able to find an interest that sticks with you. Not only do you spend a lot of time trying avenues that you end up not enjoying and just dropping, you are also not spending time working on and perfecting an avenue or skill set that will get you somewhere. It is frustrating being an undeclared major, and it can feel like you desperately need to find a direction that works for you.

Although it may not seem like it, but it is very possible that you end up being glad you tried many things. Not only do you now know what you like and don't like, but you also have acquired a certain amount of skill from each avenue. It may not be enough to make you an expert, but it could surely come in handy at some point in time in the future. Listening, playing, and composing or creating different kinds of music can have the same positive effect and results.

Different Phases for Different Genres

When growing up, I would hear lots of classical and folk music, as this is what my parents would put on in the living room. I was used to older, mostly instrumental music, and wasn't exposed to rock, country, pop, electronic, or rap music until much later. Although this music isn't what I listen to much nowadays, it definitely set the course of my musical preferences as I got older.

I started to listen to the radio at the end of elementary school, and that is when I first became fond of pop. I especially enjoyed melodic instrumentals with catchy melodies, as I was used to melodic classical and folk music. I later got into online electronic dance music such as Monstercat in middle school, and I once again preferred the kinds that were melody-based. This transferred all the way into my interests in rap, and as a producer, I naturally enjoy creating instrumentals. Although I have listened to many different genres and have had different phases of interests, all of the different phases influenced each other in some way and shaped my interests today.

Why I Started Making Beats

As a bored college freshman in my dorm, I decided that it was time to try to make music. I had entertained the idea of making EDM music in the past, but had never committed to it. I decided to buy a copy of FL Studio and to try to make something. This was around the time I started getting more into rap, and I wanted to try to make a beat sometime. It wasn't going to be something I would do regularly, like EDM song production, but I wanted to try to make one or two rap beats for fun. I ended up enjoying the process much more than I anticipated and I found myself becoming much better at it than at making EDM.

My interest in beat making pushed my interest in rap even farther, which then encouraged me to make more beats. My previous musical interests quite literally got me to make beats and started my passion in a butterfly effect type of way.

Broad Understanding of Music Helps Create a Broad Variety of Kinds of Beats

It may seem obvious, but having experience with different kinds of music helps make different kinds of beats. If you take a little bit from everything you have experienced or learned, your skill set widens, and even if what you are currently doing isn't directly related to all of those skill sets, you can always find a way to apply some aspects of them to what you are doing. Even if it doesn't make a monumental difference right away, there will definitely be a lasting impact, even if you cannot tell.

In conclusion, taking inspiration from different aspects of life and applying them to one avenue or passion can be very beneficial to working on that passion. Not everything you do will have a lasting purpose and it may sometimes seem like you are wasting time. However, there is always something to learn and there will be positive benefits to applying what you have learned or done to what you are doing or pursuing now, even if it doesn't seem like it at first.

To learn about different kinds of music and to widen your scope of understanding, visit this website.

Hit-Boy Nominated for 2022 Grammys and Weighs in on His Thoughts as a Producer

 

With the music portion of the Grammys occurring on April 3rd, 2022, the nominees are out, and producer Hit-Boy is on the list. He is nominated for album of the year and producer of the year and has won several Grammys in the past. In an interview with The Associated Press, Hit-Boy details what he thinks about the Grammys as a whole and weighs in on his nomination and previous awards.

Keep up with the 2022 Grammys on their website.

The Meaning of Winning a Grammy

Hit-Boy was asked if he thinks that a Grammy is meaningful. He explained that to him, it is a token and a reminder of the work that he has done and the things he has accomplished. It is also a reminder that he has worked with some of the best artists and contributed to the music world meaningfully as he won Grammys by working with those artists.

Hit-Boy demonstrated that as a top producer, he was motivated by the progress to keep pushing forward, reminding everyone that progress and success mean always moving forward.

Hit-Boy Speaks on Sacrifices

When he was asked how he manages to stay at the top, Hit-Boy explained the sacrifices that he makes to keep going. He said, "I dedicate my life to this. I sacrifice family time. I sacrifice personal time to add value to what others are doing." He stated that even at the top, there are plenty obstacles. As an example, he mentioned that issues such as bad publishing deals can wear a producer out, so they must truly love what they do and spend their lives on the craft.

This response serves as a great reminder that to become better at something that most other people, you must really want what you are working towards and must love it enough to spend most of your time on it.

If you would like to read the entire interview with Hit-Boy, visit this page.

A Lesson on Motivation

Winning a Grammy is obviously a massive, career-defining achievement. Many work every day of their lives and still don't make it. The ones that do, however, are the ones that try to improve every day. This means that they must keep going and stay motivated even when they don't immediately reach goals or see success. The producers that made it had long stretches of their careers that they weren't immediately rewarded for. The reason those producers are at the top today is because they always kept going anyway.